CHEYENNE,
Wyo. – First Lady Carol Mead and a team of ten other Wyoming
runners completed the ING New York City Marathon last Sunday. The team raised
$35,000 for the Wyoming Remember the 8 Endowment, which is named to honor the
eight University of Wyoming
student athletes who tragically lost their lives when their vehicle was struck
by a drunk driver in September 2001.

“It
was moving for the entire team to run in honor of those young men, who were
taken at much too young an age,” Mrs. Mead said. The team ran in brown and gold
singlets featuring the winged foot emblem used to memorialize the eight cross
country runners. “I am proud to be a part of this team and impressed by the
support this cause received from the Wyoming community.”

The
Wyoming Remember the 8 Endowment will be administered by a partnership that
includes the First Lady, the University of Wyoming Foundation, UW AWARE (Alcohol
Wellness Alternatives, Research, and Education program), and UW student
government. The new permanent endowment will support programs that aim to
prevent the use of alcohol among high school students and encourage the
responsible use of alcohol among college students who are of legal drinking age.
Funds will be disseminated on a competitive basis through
mini-grants to individual students and student organizations from the University
of Wyoming, community colleges, and Wyoming high schools that are taking
leadership roles to prevent the use of alcohol among high school students and to
emphasize the responsible use of alcohol for college students of legal drinking
age.